Hydrocyclones as such are well known and used for separating multi-phase fluid streams, such as for separating a gaseous fraction, a lighter liquid fraction or a solid particle fraction from a liquid fraction. The fluid to be separated is led tangentially into a cyclone body causing the fluid to spin and the lighter fraction to be remove via a vortex finder in the upper section and the heavier fraction to accumulate in the lower section from where it is removed through a bottom outlet.
Hydrocyclones are for instance used in upstream oil production to separate solids from produced water (pw desanding) or for desanding liquid hydrocarbon streams at the wellhead or as one of the steps of a wellstream treatment process. The hydrocyclones thereby prevent the build-up of sand in equipment such as separators and pipelines and protect sensitive equipment such as export pumps and heat exchangers from solid particles. The liquid-solid mixture is fed through an inlet at the top of the hydrocyclone and the rotational motion causes dense sand particles to separate from the less dense liquid.
Hydrocyclones are used in produced water desanding for solid/liquid separation. There is increasing legislation to prevent discharge of solid-contaminated water and a cyclone process can be very effective to remove solid contaminants from water.
The hydrocyclones have to be designed to withstand the flow of the abrasive sand particles. The liner/lining of a hydrocyclone system may therefore be manufactured in alumina ceramic or other ceramic material which is robust enough to withstand severe abrasion caused by the sand particles.
The ceramic material of the liner can further be selected to withstand the harsh environments within the oil and gas industry and improve resistance to deterioration caused by harsh design conditions such as mechanical loads, vibrations, chemicals etc., which hydrocyclones often are exposed to within the oil and gas industry.